Families Are FOR-EV-ERRRRRR

Gentle Reader,
I have been a little remiss of late in posting. This is due in part to a cold that has been keeping me from my beauty rest and draining me of my usual vim and vigor. But our Family Home Evening last night was memorable enough to motivate me to sit my phlegm-ridden body in front of the computer and share it with all of you.

Let me preface this by saying that we are diligent about FHE. We are depending on the promised blessings for basic obedience to the admonition that families gather every week for gospel study and quality family togetherness. We need all the help we can get--believe me! But, I will say that some are more meaningful than others. I held on through all the preschool and toddler years with a dream that one day they would all be old enough to sit through a well-prepared and spiritually uplifting lesson without any crying, whining, potty emergencies, diaper changes, spitting up, throwing up, bumps, bruises, fighting over whose turn it was for treat, spontaneous twirling and/or jumping, gymnastic moves over and around the furniture etc.

But here we are with children who should be old enough to sit still and listen. Maybe even participate --and I have to say--it's not all that much better. Different maybe, but not much better.

After much thought and prayer, we chose a Family Theme for the year: "Cherish Virtue". So each week during FHE we have a thought that goes along with the year's theme. Last night I prepared the thought (thank you Shanna!) and printed it up for each of them to post as a reminder:"The chief cause of failure and disappointment is trading what you want MOST for something you want at the moment."

I told them the Bible story of Jacob working 7 years for Rachel and then getting Leah- they discussed at length how awful to get stuck with someone with 'tender eyes'

"Does that mean she had puppy dog eyes?"

"Yeah, she was a dog!"

instead of someone 'beautiful and highly favored'

"So, Rachel was hot!"

"Now boys, highly favored means she was a young woman of quality-not just a pretty face."

"Yeah, but she was hot, right?"

I tried to bring them back around to the fact that Jacob "served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her" The whole point being that some things are worth waiting for. Here you see their favorite family activity: Free-for-all Wrestling

These matches break out spontaneously and at random moments.

Last night the camera was sitting on the table near-by so I captured the moment. This was somewhere between the opening song and the stampede for treats.

Something worth waiting for: a peaceful Family Home Evening.
Unfortunately, that would be an "EVENING" without the "FAMILY"

For now, I KNOW that families are forever--because one Family Home Evening feels like an ETERNITY.
But I'm sure when I look back, the years will seem like"but a few days" for the love I have for them.

I found your blog from the meanest mom, so I hope you don't mind me commenting. I'm not a creep! You can check me out here http://spokanesants.blogspot.com .

I am just laughing out loud at your Forever FHE and I can totally relate to EVERYTHING you said! Now that we have 5 - 17, you would think the only problem would be the 5 year old, but he is a saint compared to the teens, most of the time.

We also have spontaneous wrestling matches. No rhyme or reason for them.

We also had a similar discussion about Rachel and Leah but it focused more on Leah's ugliness, the fact that my oldest gets told by the school lunch lady that she has "eyes like a deer" and slid right into "just joking" insults. Followed by the wrestling.

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